Circus Krone, Munich (Germany), 26 April, 2009
Spotting the garish Circus tent proved relatively easy. There were no posters advertising this event, as the venue location had been changed to the Circus Krone a few days previously, but the inexhaustible line of Munich’s hipster elite was a dead giveaway that we were in the right place. We waited for the Very Important People of Munich’s boho intelligentsia to file in first, and then were finally allowed access to the venue. The theatre is in the round with a big top interior with bright red sparkle lights meeting together at the centre with ornate chandeliers circling overhead.
The lights dimmed, an androgynous dancer taking centre-stage. The figure began performing an intricate dance of expressionistic movements to deep dub beats ; his/her figure resembling a stork and at times a sort of mythological cross between a phoenix and a peacock (complete with headdress). I was curious to know more about this artist, whether they were influenced by the Japanese butoh performing method, whose legendary performer Kazuo Ohno is featured prominently on both the EP Another World as well as his latest full-length album, The Crying Light. No matter how much I searched for this information, I was unable to find any further details about this mysterious performer. She also wasn’t introduced at all at the stage call, so if someone happens upon more information about her, that would be highly appreciated as she deserves recognition (it was revealed later that she was a girl).
After the dance performance, the band and Antony took the stage. The lights were incredibly low at first, and I wasn’t sure if that was normal or part of the planning. Apparently, he often requests the lights be left low, but after a short amount of time, they gradually became brighter. To hear his distinctive voice from the stage of a circus did not cease to amaze throughout the entire show. Each song was beautiful and interesting, and perfectly executed. He was warm and conversational with the audience, smiling cherubically and sharing little observations and stories. At one point, he gazed up to the domed roof dotted with chandeliers, saying : "I just keep imagining acrobats flying around up there. I expect to see ladies walking the tight rope." The atmosphere in more than one way reminded me of Angela Carter’s Nights at the Circus, a magical realist picaresque work revolving around the Cockney circus girl, "Fevvers", nicknamed for the swan’s wings she is mysteriously born with. That night at the Circus Krone, Antony was our Fevvers.
A particular highlight for me was his rendition of Fell In Love With A Dead Boy, as well as One Dove and Another World, each song unfolding with the tempo of a rushing current, washing up shells of joy, heartache, ecstasy and misery. But hyperbole does the art he creates no justice. The most overwhelming of all, when it came right down to it, was the rush of senses experienced throughout the concert (excluding, however, the over-powering reek of musk attacking our sinuses from the overly cologned bobo sitting in front of us).
He smiled often, with the glee of a child on an outing to the circus, "Just imagine where you’re sitting right now. Imagine all the children who sat there before you and how happy they must have been to be in the circus." Upon introducing Hope Mountain, he explained, "This is a song about Jesus being reborn as a girl… someplace where a terrible disaster has happened and all these people are taking shelter in a cave. Someplace like in Afghanistan. Then, they see this girl emerge from water and she is Jesus reborn as a girl. I’m not a religious person I was raised a Catholic, I’m a witch. I just think it would be nice if the world was ruled more by our feminine nature…hopefully someday that will happen."
Seeing this gentle, beautiful soul on stage being celebrated for his singular talent was satisfying, moving, and uplifting. Here is proof, despite any hype, that true talent exists and can even flourish when given the chance and the opportunity. It is satisfying that Antony has finally recognised for his talent rather later on in life. Since gaining fame, he has long been lumped in with the "freak folk movement" amongst the likes of Vashti Bunyon, Devendra Banhart, Cocorosie, and Joanna Newsom. Yet, he somehow falls in a separate category entirely from that movement (though no doubt very influential and highly respected by those artists). There’s a sense of deep sorrow and emergency to his work that goes to a more profound level than can be found in most all other music I’ve come across. The only artist immediately coming to mind being Nina Simone (who he has been linked with many times). In my eyes, he could easily be the protagonist of an Angela Carter novel in which the androgyne boy becomes lost in a dark, evil forest and emerges to a sunlit field, unfurling her wings like a phoenix and at last becoming who she always knew she was.